All eyes will now be on who could be the next Archie Gray-like youngster to breakthrough into Leeds United’s first team.
This time last year, Gray headed into pre-season unsure what the upcoming campaign was going to hold for him having been yet to make his first team bow.
However, an impressive summer under Daniel Farke handed him the opportunity to start as first choice on the opening day against Cardiff City, and he has not looked back since.
Gray made over 50 appearances across all competitions for Leeds in his debut campaign, the majority of which came from the start.
Leeds will be praying they can keep hold of him despite interest from elsewhere this summer, as there really aren’t many young talents who make the step up look as easy as he has.
Leeds have just made a big decision on Mateo Joseph
Leeds had one of the youngest squads in the Championship last season but it was only really Gray, of the regular starters, who was new to the first team setup.
Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter, Willy Gnonto and Ethan Ampadu all started last season below the age of 22, but had already played plenty of senior football, whether at Leeds, or elsewhere.
Alongside Gray, Mateo Joseph was the only real new youngster on the block under Farke, but he played no where near as many minutes.
In fact, his only two starts came in the FA Cup, despite the fact he was consistently making big impacts from the bench, including a crucial late equaliser at Watford over Easter.
Joseph had to really work for his chance last season having actually picked up an injury on the eve of the new season almost a year ago, which saw him miss the opening few weeks.
And there was actually a chance he was going to be absent for the beginning of this campaign too, as Spain had been keen for him to represent them at the upcoming Olympics this summer which are due to run between July 24 and August 9.
However, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds have prevented Joseph from going to represent his country, which they are well in their rights to do.
This is because the Olympic Games occur outside an official window for international football and therefore FIFA rules state clubs are not obliged to release their players for the tournament.
Leeds’ Joseph Olympics decision a hint to his role this season
Whether at the World Cup or Olympics, representing your country is the biggest honour for any player and so Joseph will undoubtedly be feeling a tinge of disappointment.
For example, arguably Neymar’s biggest accomplishment in a Brazil shirt was when he helped his country win gold in Rio back at the 2016 games.
However, what this decision from Leeds does show is that they are surely counting on Joseph to be a much more prominent figure this season.
Despite huge calls for him to start towards the back end of the last campaign, Farke resisted the urge by persisting with both Patrick Bamford and Joel Piroe ahead of him.
A new season should bring a fresh start, though, and Joseph’s performances mean he deserves the opportunity to start in August as first choice.
By rejecting his chance to go the Olympics, Joseph will now have a full pre-season to stake his claim at Leeds, which he would not have had otherwise.